16 October 2006

From the Editor…

Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

The war on youth

Crime rates are falling throughout Britain, yet the number of children being prosecuted just keeps on rising. Why are we turning so many young people into criminals? By Alice O'Keeffe

By Alice O'Keeffe

Features

The truth about the lie detector

By Andrew Stephen

Critics claim that polygraph testing is as credible as the tooth fairy or witchcraft. Yet the US government still relies on it to identify terrorists and vet FBI agents. Andrew Stephen on America's alarming love affair with junk science

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Time Out with Nick Cohen: This week Jonathan Franzen

By Nick Cohen

His mother was desperate to be respectable, yet here was Jonathan Franzen, breaking every rule his parents held dear

The last Mughal and a clash of civilisations

By William Dalrymple

East and west face each other across a divide that some call a religious war. Suicide jihadis take what they see as defensive action and innocent people are killed. But this is 1857. William Dalrymple on lessons from the Raj for the neo-cons

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Interview

Why I want to see the veil gone from Britain

By Harriet Harman

Harriet Harman talks to Mary Riddell about equality for Muslim women, why Gordon Brown will back her plans for strong new laws on flexible working - and why he needs her as his deputy to win the next election

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Faith in an old nuclear order will compound the dangers

The Politics Column

New Labour and the fragility of the mind

By Martin Bright

A government with a direct relationship to mental illness should be better able to deal with the one area where it threatens public safety: the criminal justice system

Commons Confidential

Yo, my name's Dave

By Kevin Maguire

Competitions: Family matters No 3950

Set by Ian Birchall We asked for press articles speculating on the real reasons why Gordon Brown will declare that he is standing down to "spend more time with his family"

Culture

Painting power

By Richard Cork

Diego Velázquez was a skilled politician as well as a master artist, finds Mark Irving on a visit to the El Escorial palace near Madrid. And right, Richard Cork analyses his most famous work, the enigmatic Las Meninas

Loud, proud and black

By Joseph Harker

The bling generation should learn from images of unity dating back 40 years

Theatre

Comedy: Sand in the underpants of power

By Mark Thomas

A remarkable show which combines activism, journalism and good gags Mark Thomas: as used on the famous Nelson Mandela Farnham Maltings and touring

Film

Please, sir, can I be excused?

By Ryan Gilbey

Alan Bennett's saccharine tale does not work well on the big screen The History Boys (15) dir: Nicholas Hytner

Television

Tin hearts and dead precedents

By Andrew Billen

A hopeful "what if" docudrama about Bush's assassination is stuff and nonsense Death of a President More 4

Radio

The geeks have inherited the airwaves

By Rachel Cooke

Podcasting isn't clever or cool - it's just plain nerdy

Album Reviews

Heart of darkness

By Sophie Heawood

Back to Black Amy Winehouse Island

The world in your ear

By Mark Espiner

World Circuit Presents . . . Various artists World Circuit

Hitting high notes

By Peter Conrad

Matilde di Shabran; La Fille du régiment Juan Diego Flórez Universal/Decca

Books

Premier league

By Simon Hoggart

The 20 British Prime Ministers of the 20th Century various authors Haus Publishing, £9.99 each ISBN 1904950531 From "bad Ted" Heath to well-meaning John Major, Britain's 20th-century prime ministers have shared little beyond their famous address. Simon Hoggart remembers the charmers, bullies and posers of Downing Street